Eastern Iowa drinking water to face more monitoring

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked Cedar Rapids and other cities around the nation to provide samples for extra testing of radiation in drinking water, precipitation and milk.

Radiation detected in seawater near Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is at its highest level yet. Nuclear safety officials say that's a sign that more contaminated water has seeped into the ocean.

In Cedar Rapids, the city already checks for radiation on an ongoing basis. Wednesday's request from the EPA is in addition to that regular monitoring.

"I'm not positive when we'll get those results back, but we'll keep in close contact with the EPA,” said Megan Murphy with the city utilities department. “We've got a long way to go before we can see any cause for concern.”

City water goes through an intensive purifying and filtration process before it hits residents' faucets.

“I can understand why they might be concerned. It's the unknown,” Murphy said.

Some of the eastern and western states have detected some trace radiation, but the EPA said it's nothing to worry about. Levels are not high enough to cause health concerns.